Hearing of NBC Moshi Branch robbery case continues

By The guardian reporter

16th May 2012

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The fifth prosecution witness in a case in which more than 5.3bn/-, property of NBC Bank,Kibo branch, was stolen, said the accused whom he recognised during an identification parade in Nairobi, Kenya, Patrick Ingowi, was not around in the courtroom.

The witness, Christopher Mallya (41), was being guided by state attorney Ladslaus Komanya, who was being assisted by Stella Majaliwa, before senior Kilimanjaro Resident Magistrate Simon Kobelo.

He claimed that he was able to recognise him by the way he was dressed and that he was the one holding the gun and who ordered bank staff and customers to line up and go into the strong room.

He explained further that the identification parade was conducted in the neighbouring country, and that he learned of his name at the court in Kenya.

he said during the identification parade held at Kenyatta Internatioal Airport he recognised the thenth accused, Gabriel Kungu Kariuki, because he had red lips and that he was the one who, during the robbery, picked him from under the table and ordered him to go to where the other bank staff and customers had been ordered to lie down.

He claimed that during the parade, he managed to identify three people, one being the person who took away all his valuables as he was lying flat on the floor under the table, and that the other was working with the accused number ten and that Ingoi took them to the strong room. He said the men were not in the courtroom.
After having presented his testimony, the following is part of the interrogation between him and defence advocate, Loom Ojare.
Ojare: In your testimony, you said that you recognised the one who was dressed in a sweater. Was he the one you identified in Nairobi, Patrick Ingoi?
Witness: Yes.
Ojare: Who took you to KIA?
Witness: The police.
Ojare: Were you alone?
Witness: We went there in turns. On my turn I was alone.
Ojare: Upon getting to KIA, where did you stay?
Witness: In an open place, far from the station.
Ojare: Were you alone?
Witness: No, there were no more than ten of us.
Ojare: Who was supervising the identification parade?
Witness: The Regional Police Commander, by then Chocco, along with other high-ranking police officers.
Ojare: While you were there, did you chat with the others and that the others had
come to identify people who had broken into a bureau de change belonging to Laswai?
Witness: Yes, those were there
Ojare: In 2005 when you gave your witness to case No. 16/2004, you told the court
that the accused whom you recognised during the identification parade among those who
broke into the bank had red lips?
Witness: No, I did not give that explanation.
Ojare: Did you remember everything on that day?
Witness: I did not give that explanation.
Ojare: The two whom you identified but are not present in this courtroom now, can you
prove that you do not know their whereabouts and that it is the police who know about it?
Witness: Yes.
Hearing of the case is scheduled to continue for one week non-stop from June 4, this year.